Enjoy real Italian at Pane e Vino

Business staff writer Valerie Whitney and her husband Wallace dined out recently at one of New Smyrna Beach's newest eateries, Pane e Vino Ristorante Italiano.

How was the appearance?

The restaurant is conveniently located on South Dixie Highway. We visited the night before Halloween and there was plenty of room when we arrived. They have tables outside but we chose to eat inside.

What was the atmosphere like?

Once inside I was struck by the intimacy of the room. There was soft lighting and the tables were nicely set with white linen, water goblets and wine glasses. There was seating for about 50 people. From where we sat, we could see into the kitchen and on a couple of occasions, we were treated to a show as flames shot up from the kitchen stove while the chef prepared various dishes.

We started our meal with an appetizer of fried calamari. It was more than enough to share. It was lightly fried and chewy. For his main entree, Wallace ordered Frutti Di Mare from the pasta dishes. He got a generous serving of spaghetti and various seafood including clams and pieces of fish in a tomato sauce on a large white plate. He tends to order the same dish at Italian eat- eries and found this rendition not quite as good as some he has sampled at other places. Still, it was decent, he said. I ordered the signature Fettuccine Pane e Vino. It has a healthy portion of scallops and shrimp that had been sauteed in an olive oil with herbs and spices. I enjoyed my dish. Neither of us finished, and the leftovers went into two boxes to take home.

What did you drink?

As you would expect from the name, the eatery has a nice selection of wines. But as the designated driver for the evening, I passed. So did Wallace, who is not much of a wine drinker. We opted for iced tea. Others in the eatery, however, seemed to be enjoying themselves and the vino.

Did you get dessert?

We decided to split a slice of pumpkin cheesecake. The presentation was lacking and the taste was so-so.